New York City Department of Education

James Monroe Educational Campus: Management of General School Funds

The James Monroe Educational Campus, which is located in the Bronx, consists of five separate high schools. We audited the financial management practices at four of these high schools for general school funds, which are funds donated to and/or raised by students and/or school organizations to support extracurricular and co-curricular student activities. We found that the funds were not always appropriately accounted for and expended. For example, three of the schools did not fully document general school fund receipts and expenditures, and we identified $5,444 in expenditures that were not student-related, such as reimbursements to school personnel for staff development meals, trips, equipment and postage. We recommended that certain actions be taken to improve the schools’ controls over these funds.